Booking, cancellation and refund policies

How booking works

1. You send a request for a date. Your card is authorized for the total but not charged.
2. The guide has 48 hours to accept or decline. If they don't respond, the request is released and nothing is charged.
3. When the guide accepts, your card is charged and the booking is confirmed. You'll get an email, and you can message the guide about the meeting place and what to bring.
4. After the trip, the guide is paid and both of you are invited to leave a review.

Prices and fees

Prices are set by each guide and shown per guest, or as a flat price for a private party. The price you see at checkout is the total; there are no separate booking fees added for travelers. Renga keeps a 20% service fee from each booking and pays the remaining 80% to the guide. Tips you add after a trip go 100% to the guide.

Cancelling as a traveler

Each trip uses one of three policies, chosen by its guide and shown on the trip page before you book. Times are measured to the trip's start time in the guide's local time zone.

Flexible

Full refund if you cancel at least 24 hours before the start. No refund after that.

Moderate

Full refund if you cancel at least 48 hours before the start. 50% refund between 48 hours and the start. No refund after the start.

Strict

Full refund if you cancel at least 7 days before the start. No refund after that.

Cancelling a request before the guide has accepted it is always free. Refunds go back to the card you paid with and usually appear within 5–10 business days.

If the guide cancels

You get a full refund, whatever the trip's policy. Guides who cancel confirmed bookings without a safety reason may lose their place on Renga.

Weather and safety

Guides make the final call on whether conditions are safe. If a guide cancels or cuts a trip short for weather, river levels, avalanche danger, wildfire, closures or similar reasons, you'll be offered another date or a full refund for the part of the trip that didn't happen. Guides are not required to run a trip they consider unsafe.

No-shows and late arrivals

If you don't arrive at the agreed meeting place within 30 minutes of the start time and haven't reached the guide, the booking is treated as a cancellation after the start, with no refund. Message the guide through Renga if you're running late.

Problems and disputes

If a trip didn't happen as described, message the guide first; most issues are resolved there. If not, contact Renga within 7 days of the trip date and we'll review the booking, the messages between you and the guide, and anything else you send us. Renga may refund some or all of a booking at its discretion.

For guides: payouts, checks and licenses

• You're paid 80% of each booking, sent to your bank account after the trip date.
• Every guide passes a background check before listing trips. The check is run by an independent screening company and you pay the screening fee directly to them. If a check isn't approved, you're told why and how to dispute it.
• Activities that legally require a license or permit stay hidden until Renga has verified yours. Listing a trip you aren't licensed to run is grounds for removal.
• Accept or decline requests within 48 hours. Unanswered requests expire, and your response rate is shown on your profile.